Mar 4 - New McLaren-Honda driver Fernando Alonsowill not drive in the season-opening Formula One Australian Grand Prix on March 15 and will insteadfocus on being ready for the race in Malaysia on March 29.

Alonso, who suffered a concussion in a crash at the Barcelona test on Feb. 22, will be replaced in Melbourne by Kevin Magnussen, who tested the MP4-30 in Barcelona last week.

The team insists that there is nothing wrong with Alonso, and that the delay in his return is just a precaution.

Fernando Alonso

Indianapolis Grand Prix Tickets

Mar 4 - The speedway mailed out tickets for theIndyCar race that will be ran on the speedway's road-course May 9th.

NASCAR's Semi-Pro Stock Car Series Has New Sponsor

Mar 8 - Nationwide Insurance has been replaced by Comcasts's cable brand Xfinity as title sponsor beginning in 2015.

The series emerged from NASCAR's Sportsmandivision which began in 1950. They ran older cars.

In 1982 with the inception of the touring format, new V6 powered cars were used and were sponsored by Budweiser. Anheuser-Busch decided to switch the sponsorship to Busch in 1984. In 1986 they called it the Busch Grand National series. The "grand national" name was dropped in 2003.

Recent Logos

Carb Day Concert Announcement

Mar 10 - The speedway announced the band for the annual Carb Day concert, and it's three bands.

Jane's Addiction, O.A.R. and 38 Special will performat 3:30 p.m. on Friday, May 22, on the Turn 4 Coors Light stage in the IMS infield.

The concert is free with Carb Day admission of $30;fans wanting the closest access to the stage in the Concert Pit can purchase a $10 upgrade.

New and upgraded experiences abound for fans thisyear, from the trio of musical acts to various viewing perspectives. The Concert Pit is available for those wanting to be closest to the bands, while the exclusive Carb Day Party Deck (starting at $100) offers a VIP experience including an elevator for easy access to an upper-level, partially shaded view of the concert stage, exclusive concessions and permanent private restrooms. For more information on these various areas and to purchase, visit IMS.com/carbday.

About the Bands

38 Special is a southern-influenced rock band formedin 1974 with Donnie Van Zant as lead singer. Heretired in 2013 and will not be at Carb Day. Instead, Don Barnes, the last remaining original member, willbe singing.

38 Special hit songs were in the 80s and include "Hold On Loosely", "Rockin' into the Night", "Caught up in You", "Fantasy Girl" and "Back Where You Belong". I think this band's music is too dated.

Jane's Addiction is an alternative music band formedin 1985. I had their 1990 album Ritual de lo Habitual, which featured their hit song "Been Caught Stealing." They also did the theme song to HBO's Entourageseries.

O.A.R. formed in 1996. I bought tickets to O.A.R.last year as these chick friends of mine liked them. I spent the entire concert in the patio area drinking andwatching the coeds walk by. I guess their biggest hit is "Love and Memories" which hit #2 in Adult Top 40 in 2008.

Oriol Servia's New Job

Mar 11 - IndyCar driver Oriol Servia has been named partner and managing director of Dragon Racing, the motorsports team owned by Jay Penske.

Servia had been driving Penske's entry in the inaugural FIA Formula E championship, but now will move into a management role for Dragon. In his new position,Servia will be responsible for the management ofDragon Racing's technical operations and developingits commercial relationships.

"It is with some regret that I won't be behind thewheel," Servia said. "However, Jay and I had always spoken about me playing a larger role in the

organization, and I am ready for this latest challenge in my career. We have a world-class team, and I look forward to playing my part in putting Jerome (d'Ambrosio) and Luic (Duval) on the podium."

Servia drove the first four races of the Formula Eseason for Dragon. He has 14 year's experience in Champ Car and IndyCar, and is actively speaking to team owners about a ride in the Indianapolis 500.

Penske, the youngest son of Roger Penske, started Dragon Racing in 2006 under Luczo Dragon Racing.The team made its Indianapolis 500 debut in 2007 and finished fifth with Ryan Briscoe.

The team completed its first full IndyCar season in2009, but this year put its emphasis on Formula E.

Simona de Silvestro Back in IndyCar!

Mar 11 - Andretti Autosport has named Simona de Silvestro its fourth driver for the season-opening raceat St. Petersburg, Florida.

Team owner Michael Andretti says he'd like to growa program around de Silvestro that gets the Swissdriver in a full-time ride. For now, she's scheduled only for the March 29 IndyCar opener.

De Silvestro has 65 career IndyCar starts and finishedon the podium at Houston in 2013. She was the 2010top rookie at the Indianapolis 500, and is one of only three women to have recorded a podium finish in IndyCar.

She spent last year as an affiliated driver with theSauber Formula 1 team.

Hunter-Reay Missed Ceremony

Mar 5 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, the 2014 Indy 500 winner, was scheduled to show up for the unveiling of the 2015 Indy 500 ticket which feature his face.

Hunter-Reay had a pretty good excuse for missing the ceremony. He was in Florida where his wife was delivering their new bouncing baby boy!

2015 Indy 500 Ticket

Video Message from Ryan Hunter-Reay

F1 Australian GP

Mar 15 - Valtteri Bottas joined Fernando Alonso in missing the first F1 race of the season. Bottas suffered an annular tear in his lower back which prevents him from exiting the racer in the time required by the FIA.

Unlike McLaren who moved their reserve driver in tofill -in for Alonso, Williams did not move their testdriver Susie Wolff in to replace Bottas. William'sother driver, Felipe Massa qualified 3rd and finished4th in Australia today.

McLaren had a terrible day with Jenson Buttonfinishing 2 laps down in 11th and Max Verstappen not even starting the race due to engine trouble. Honda returned to F1 this year supplying engines to McLaren.

Lotus had an even worse day. Pastor Maldonadogot knocked out on the first lap and Romain Grojeanhad engine trouble before the race even started. Lotus uses Mercedes engines.

Red Bull's Daniil Kvyatt had gearbox problems anddid not start the race. Daniel Ricciardo was able to finish in 6th.

Similar to last year, Mercedes started on the front row and finished 1-2, with Lewis Hamilton winning from pole.

Sebastian Vettel finished third with his new team, Ferrari. Kimi Raikkonen made it to lap 49 of 58before Ferrari stopped him. They said it was not safefor him to continue.

Sauber surprised with both cars finishing in the points.

Last year's Marussia team was going to fold, but then they got approval to race this year as Manor F1. However they failed to qualify for the race. They didnot recieve a penalty as the FIA deemed they did everything possible to race.

Honda finally released photos of their new IndyCar aero kits for road courses.

Look at last month's news to see photos of Chevy's aero kit.

Indy 500 Snake Pit DJs

Mar 16 - World-renowned electronic DJs and producers Kaskade, Steve Aoki, and A-Trak will perform in the Snake Pit at the speedway on race day.

Games, food, booze, dancing girls. What's not to like?Oh. There is an admission charge...

First Test of New IndyCar Aero Kits

Mar 21 - IndyCar held a two-day practice for all teamsat the Barber Motorsports Park in order to test the new aero-kits. They provided more downforce which made the cars harder to handle but quicker in high-speed corners.

“Man, my neck is really sore from the (strain of)braking. There’s going to be some drivers with really thick necks after this season,” reigning IndyCarchampion Will Power quipped after the final sessionon the 2.38-mile, 17-turn road course.

Power was fastest of the field, running the course a second faster than his pole-winning speed in last year's race at the Alabama track.

Twenty entries were within one second of Power’schart-topping lap time over the four sessions, so – atleast initially – there’s not a noticeable disparitybetween the manufacturers’ aero kits and powerderived from their 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6 engines.

"I think some places you'll see where the Honda aerokit maybe has an advantage in some areas and theChevy in others," 2012 series champion RyanHunter-Reay said.

James Hinchcliffe said, “There is still some bit tocome and a lot of development to do. This car is goingto get better and better through the first half of the year as we understand more and more. To see the timeswe’ve been doing given the warm track conditions (at Barber), it gives you a lot of confidence heading intoSt. Pete to see records fall.”

Stefano Coletti, from Monaco, was testing a car for KV Racing.

Tony Kanaan on course during Tuesday's Open Test

Corvettes Win 12 Hours of Sebring

Mar 23 - On an unseasonably hot, humid day and night- even for Florida - the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP team remained cool and collected, taking the overall victory Saturday in the 63rd Twelve Hoursof Sebring.

It was the first overall win for a Chevrolet in 50 years– since a Chevy-powered Chaparral won in 1965. Coincidentally, the Chaparral was the featured car atthis year’s race, and that winning car was on hand!

The race began at 10:40 a.m., ended at 10:40 p.m.,long enough for the brutal 3.74-mile road course todash the dreams of many of the favorites in the 43-car field.

The Action Express Racing car, driven by Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi and SebastienBourdais, is a Prototype, the fastest of the four classes that race at Sebring. The team finished second in the 2015 Tudor United SportsCar Championship season opener, the Rolex 24 at Daytona, and won the 2014 season championship.

It was an all-Corvette podium, as second overall, and second in the Prototype class was the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP, followed by the No. 90 Corvette DP.

At the checkered flag, a Chevrolet Corvette C7.R - a completely different car from the Prototype Corvettes- earned bragging rights in GTLM with a win by theNo. 3 car of Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia and Ryan Briscoe.

The leaders head into the night at Sebring on Saturday.

New Event at the Indy Speedway!

March 31 - IMS president Doub Boles announced today that the speedway will be host a new event this year and it is not a race, it's a rock concert!

The band will be the Rolling Stones and the day will be Saturday, July 4th! How awesome is that?!

Camping will be allowed Friday and Saturday night across the street from the speedway in Lot 2.